


Summer

by yaoichan12



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, First Kiss, Friendship bracelet, Gen, Humor, Jim is in foster care, M/M, Teen Romance, Young Love, everyone is human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-03 19:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4112038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaoichan12/pseuds/yaoichan12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim is in foster care and spends time at a summer camp that was started by Spock's mother. They first meet when Spock nearly drowns and Jim saves him. They only get to spend 10 days together each summer for several years and end up falling in love. </p>
<p>
  <em>Spock laid on his back on the sand and coughed up the water as the person put their hands on his shoulders and shook him.</em><br/>“Are you okay?” the person, a boy, asked.  “Are you dead?”<br/>Spock coughed and then opened his eyes.  Big, bright blue eyes were staring down at him.  Spock blinked, thinking he had died and an angel was staring at him.<br/>“Hey! You’re not dead! Great!” the boy shouted, smiling big.
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Jim is in foster care and spends time at a summer camp that was started by Spock's mother. They first meet when Spock nearly drowns and Jim saves him. They only get to spend 10 days together each summer for several years and end up falling in love. 
> 
> This started out as just a prologue to another story that I am writing. This got away from me and so it is its own story. A prequel.

Spock sighed as the limo pulled up to his parent’s massive lake house.  His mother was excited that the land they own on the other side of the lake had been set up as a camp for orphans and children in foster care in San Francisco. Spock thought it was a great idea, he just didn’t want to spend his summer at the lake.  He didn’t care for being outside and he couldn’t swim.  His parents insisted that he be there though.

 _I wanted to go to space camp,_ Spock thought, getting out of the limo after his father and watching as the butler and house staff came out to help take the luggage in.  Spock sighed again and looked up at the blue sky and fluffy clouds before walking up the path and into the house.  He promptly went up to his room, grabbed a book from his book shelf, laid on his bed and began to read.

* * *

 

“The camp is beautiful,” his mother said that evening as they ate dinner.  “The cabins are so cute.”

Spock pushed his vegetarian dinner around on the plate and nodded as his parents talked about the camp.

“Spock, the lake is beautiful,” Amanda said to her son.  “I could teach you how to swim.”

“I do not like water,” Spock replied.

Amanda chuckled and looked to her husband.  She gave him a look and then looked to Spock, silently telling her husband to do something to entertain their child while they were here for the summer. Sarek nodded at her and looked to Spock.

“You enjoy horseback riding,” Sarek said.  “We have several horses and our equestrian gear.  Would you care to go riding tomorrow with me?”

Spock shrugged, “I wanted to go to space camp.”

Amanda and Sarek both sighed.

“You can go to space camp next summer,” Amanda told him.  “I need to be here…”

“But I do not need to be here,” Spock interrupted.  “I am glad that you have started the camp, but I do not need to be here.”

“Well I want you here so you’re staying,” Amanda said.  She then looked at her son’s plate of mostly untouched food and continued, “If you’re going to just push your food around the plate and not eat, then you can go to your room.”

Spock nodded and excused himself, going up to his room.

Sarek watched his son leave and looked to his wife, “Preteen moodiness?”

Amanda laughed and nodded, “Yes.”

“When do the children arrive at the camp?”

“The first group arrives tomorrow and they’ll be here for ten days. And then the next group will arrive and so on.  They are a lot of kids in San Francisco’s child services so we want to make sure they are all get a nice summer.”

Sarek nodded, “Perhaps Spock will…liven up some and go to the camp and make a friend or two.”

Amanda smiled, “I hope so to.  I’ll drag him over there if need be.”

* * *

 

Towards the end of their stay at the lake, Amanda finally was able to drag her son out of the house and over to the camp. Spock had spent most of the summer in his room reading or playing chess with his father.  Amanda put Spock in her little jeep after breakfast and drove around the lake to the camp. She parked in front of the reception cabin and turned the jeep off.  Spock observed the camp.  Kids were everywhere running around and playing.  He watched several campers run by with gear to go canoeing.  

Amanda turned to Spock and smiled, “I have to go talk with some people for a while and discuss camp business.  You can go join an arts and crafts workshop if you’d like.”

Spock gave her a look and shook his head.

“Do something, Spock.  I’m going into that building and in five minutes I’ll looked out of that window and if I see you still sitting here then you’re going to be in big trouble.  Go play.  Make a friend.  Do something, sweetheart,” Amanda told her son.  She put her hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eyes, “You’ve been moping around the house all summer.  I love you and I’m glad you love to read and play chess and look through you’re telescope.  Just…please.  Go play.”

Spock looked at his mother and nodded.  She smiled at him and kissed his forehead before getting out of the car and going into the cabin.  Spock watched her go and then got out of the jeep and started to walk towards a group of kids lining up for a game of some sort.  He stood in line with the kids as a boy and girl stood in front of them and started to pick players.

One by one the other kids got picked until it was just Spock left standing there.  The boy, who looked around Spock’s age but bigger, shrugged and looked at Spock.

“The teams are even,” the boy told Spock.  “I guess you can play later or something, but you can’t play now.”

Spock nodded, turned and walked away.  He didn’t want to play anyway.  He wandered over to a cabin and peered inside.  There was an older woman setting up some arts and crafts items.  She turned and looked at Spock standing in the doorway and smiled.

“Come on in,” she said.  “We’re going to be making friendship bracelets.”

“What if I do not have any friends?” Spock asked.

The woman gave him a sad smile, “Well, you can make a bracelet for yourself then.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow at that but decided to make a bracelet anyway. 

 _I could give it to mother,_ Spock thought.

* * *

 

Spock finished his bracelet and was quite pleased with himself at the finished product.  The woman running the arts and crafts workshop was even impressed by his bracelet.  His mother wasn’t done with her meetings so Spock walked out to one of the docks and sat down at the end and let his feet dangle down above the lake water. 

He looked out across the lake and saw a few campers out canoeing.  In the distance he saw his parent’s house on the other side of the lake.  Spock looked down at his wrist and adjusted the bracelet.  It loosened more than he wanted and fell down into the lake. 

“Oh no,” Spock sighed at first but then saw the bracelet was floating there.  He reached out, but the bracelet floated a little bit further away.  Spock leaned over further and reached out, trying to get it.  He leaned to far over though and fell right in.

He started to panic and splash around, trying to keep his head above water but ended up sinking down after a few minutes.  Spock started to black out but then someone wrapped their arms around him and pulled him up. 

Spock closed his eyes as the person pulled him to the shore.  Spock laid on his back on the sand and coughed up the water as the person put their hands on his shoulders and shook him.

“Are you okay?” the person, a boy, asked.  “Are you dead?”

Spock coughed and then opened his eyes.  Big, bright blue eyes were staring down at him.  Spock blinked, thinking he had died and an angel was staring at him.

“Hey! You’re not dead! Great!” the boy shouted, smiling big. 

Spock nodded as the boy sat back and looked at him.

“Can you talk?” the boy asked.

Spock just stared at the boy in wonder, noting the boy’s blonde hair and little bit of freckles on his face. The boy was about to say something else, when someone rushed to them.

“Spock!” Amanda cried out, stopping and kneeling down to her son and grabbing him up into her arms, “Are you alright? What happened?”

“He almost drowned, but I saved him,” the boy told Amanda matter-of-factly.

Amanda nodded at the boy as Spock moved out of her arms, “I am well, Mother.  I fell into the lake but…”

“Jim,” the boy said.

“…but Jim saved me,” Spock finished.

“What were you doing? Why did you fall in, sweetheart?” Amanda asked, sounding concerned, “You know you can’t swim.”

“I am aware of that,” Spock replied.  “I dropped something and wanted to get it.  I leaned too far over and fell into the lake.”

“Oh, sweetie.  Let’s get you home and into dry clothes, okay?  Lunch should be ready soon as well.”

Spock nodded and stood up with his mother as Jim stood up as well. Spock noticed that Jim was a little bit younger than him and was scrawnier as well. Jim smiled at them as Amanda thanked him and then led Spock back to the jeep and drove him back to the house.

* * *

 

Jim watched the black haired boy leave with his mother and then turned back to the lake.  He walked to the end of the dock and looked around at the water.  He saw a bracelet floating not too far away.

 _He must’ve dropped that,_ Jim thought.

He jumped in and swam to it before swimming back and going to his cabin to dry himself and put on clean clothes.  He wanted to take the boy back the bracelet but the trumpet went off signaling it was lunch time.  Jim smiled and climbed up to his top bunk and put the bracelet under his pillow before rushing off to the mess hall for mac-n-cheese.

* * *

 

Jim sat with his brother and listened to Sam talk about the football game they had going before lunch.  Jim didn’t care for football, he preferred baseball, but no one wanted to play with him.  Jim listened to the other conversations around him and picked up a couple of the camp leaders talking about Mrs. Grayson who started the camp. 

He turned in his head and listened to them talk.  Apparently Mrs. Grayson lived in the big house across the lake with her husband and young son, Spock.  Jim smiled.

 _Cool! The paths around the lake are fun to walk.  I’ll return his bracelet after lunch,_ Jim decided.

* * *

 

“Holy shit…that’s a huge house,” Jim said out loud.  He was standing on the edge of the property grounds, staring with big eyes at the house. He shook his head and walked confidently up the path to the front door and knocked.

.

.

.

Nobody answered.  Jim figured he didn’t knock hard enough so this time he curled his hand into a fist and beat on the door a few times, hard.  This time the door answered immediately and in the doorway stood a man dressed in a penguin suit.  Jim repressed his urge to laugh at the proper looking man.

“Can I help you, sir?” Penguin suit asked.

 _Sir, huh?_ Jim internally chuckled before asking, “Um…is Spock home?”

Penguin suit looked at him before stepping to the side and allowing Jim to enter.  Jim hesitated for a moment before stepping into the huge house.   Penguin suit shut the door as Mrs. Grayson came out of a room to the side.  She saw Jim, smiled and walked up to him.

“Jim,” she greeted.

“Hello, Mrs. Grayson,” Jim said, smiling at her. He held up his hand and showed her the bracelet, “I found Spock’s bracelet and I wanted to bring it to him.”

“You save my son from drowning and then retrieve his bracelet from the lake.  You’re quite the young man, aren’t you?”

Jim smiled bigger and nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

“Spock’s up in his room.  Just up the stairs, fourth door to the left,” Amanda told him, pointing up the stairs. 

Jim nodded and went up the grand staircase and down the hall.

* * *

 

Spock looked through his telescope at the camp across the lake.  He was trying to see if he could find the angel who saved him but he couldn’t see him. Spock moved his telescope around and looked around the lake.  He then heard something from the hallway.  He went to his door, opened it and looked into the hallway. 

“Damn this house is like a maze,” Jim fussed, turning in a circle and looking at all the doors.

Spock internally screamed in delight at seeing Jim in his house.  Jim turned then and saw Spock and gave him a big smile.

“Spock! Hey, there you are!” Jim exclaimed, walking over to him.  “You’re house is so huge and confusing.  I got lost. Nice bowl cut by the way.”

Spock nodded, unsure of what to say. He reached a tentative hand up to his hair and smoothed down his bangs.

“Anyway, I found this and thought I’d return it to you,” Jim held out the bracelet.  Spock took it carefully and looked slightly down at Jim and his big blue eyes. The younger boy looked past Spock, into the bedroom. “Holy crap! My foster family’s house could fit into this room!”

Spock felt bad that Jim was in foster care and burst out saying, “I’m sorry.”

Jim looked at him confused, “Why are you sorry?”

“Um…that…that you’re in foster care,” Spock said.

Jim laughed a bit and shook his head, “Don’t be sorry.  It’s alright.  My mom just can’t take care of me and my older brother right now, but she’s working really hard to get us back.”

Spock nodded at that as Jim continued to look into Spock’s room.

“Would you like to come in and play? I have Legos and building sets,” Spock offered.  He wanted Jim to stay.

Jim smiled really big, “I love Legos!”

* * *

 

“Why can’t you swim?” Jim asked the next day.  Jim talked Spock into meeting in the woods and playing instead of going to the camp.

“I do not like water,” Spock replied, following Jim down a path in the woods.

Jim stopped and looked back to Spock, “Then how do you take a shower or bath?”

“I take showers…short ones though.”

Jim laughed at him and continued walking, “You’re mom’s pretty cool for making the camp.  It’s really awesome.”

“She is, indeed, cool.  She used to be a teacher and she loves helping children any way she can.”

“She doesn’t teach anymore?”

“My father travels a lot for work, so my mother had to stop working full-time.  She does charity work that can allow her to travel and keep up with it.  She helps with fundraising for schools and kids in need and helps to set up programs for disadvantage youths.”

“Cool.  What’s your dad do?  He wasn’t the guy in the penguin suit that answered the door yesterday was he?” Jim asked as they came to a clearing that had a huge tree in the middle of it.

“My father is a lawyer and a diplomat.  He also was not the man that answered the door yesterday.  That was the butler.”

Jim looked at him with his jaw dropped open.

“What?” Spock asked.

“Butler?”

Spock sighed and nodded, “Yes, we have a butler and several household staff.  Can we please not discuss it anymore?” He didn’t like talking about his parents’ money. 

Jim nodded, “So how old are you?”

“I am twelve.”

“Cool, I’m ten.  When’s your birthday?”

“January 6th.  When is yours?”

Jim smiled, “January 4th.  My birthday is before yours.”

“But I am older.”

“Doesn’t matter, my birthday is first.”

Spock smiled lightly and nodded, “If you say so.”

Jim smiled back and looked at the big tree.  He dug into his back pocket and pulled out something.

“Wanna carve our names into the tree?” Jim asked, unfolding his pocket knife.

* * *

 

Spock and Jim parted ways as the sun was starting to set.  Jim wanted to get back to camp for dinner because he said it was sloppy Joe night.  Spock had no idea what that meant and really didn’t want to know.  They did make plans to meet up the next morning and continue to play together.

Spock was really happy.  He loved having a friend and he really liked Jim.  He smiled to himself as he entered the house and went up to his room.  He wanted to take a quick shower to clean up before finding his parents for dinner. 

When he entered his room, he found his mother going through his drawers and taking out his clothes and bringing them to his suitcase.

“What are you doing?” Spock questioned, walking over to his mother.

“Just starting to pack up.  We’re leaving the day after tomorrow,” Amanda replied.

Spock’s eyes went big and he shook his head, “No! The campers are here for ten days.  You said that.  It has not…”

“It has been eight days.  The campers are leaving the day after tomorrow as well.”

_No, I want to stay and play with Jim._

Amanda looked at her son and saw that he was upset by the news.  She smiled softly and sat on the bed and pulled Spock to her and hugged him tightly.

“I’m sorry that you finally made a friend and now we all have to leave,” she said, rubbing her son’s back.  Spock sniffled and wrapped his arms around her.

“I do not want to leave,” Spock whined.

Amanda chuckled, “I know. Tomorrow you can play with Jim all day and give him your address.  You two can write letters and keep in touch.”

“We travel a lot and have too many addresses.”

“We have that PO box in San Francisco and one in DC.  Your father’s staffers check them every day and will send us all the mail to wherever we are.”

“Okay.”

Amanda smiled and pulled her son back enough to start peppering kisses to his cheeks. Spock groaned and tried to move from his mother’s grasp.

“Moooom….stop it…” Spock fussed out as his mother giggled and kissed him more.  Spock scrunched up his face, but realized that resistance was futile.

* * *

 

Spock met Jim at their tree the next morning after breakfast and found the younger blonde climbing up the tree.  Spock watched him for a while before calling him down. Jim looked at him and smiled before jumping down from a higher up branch.  Spock looked startled and rushed over to his new friend.

“You should not do that,” Spock said, “that branch was too high.  You could have hurt yourself.”

Jim just straightened up and shrugged, “I’m fine, Spock.”

“Fine has variable definitions.”

“Whatever.  So…what do you want to do today?”

Spock thought about it before suggesting horseback riding.

Jim gave him a look before nodding, “Alright.”

* * *

 

“This thing is trying to kill me!” Jim fussed out as his horse starting walking around on his own.  Jim was tensed up and hardly moving from where he sat on top of the horse, hands gripping the reins tight.

Spock looked at his friend from atop of his own horse and suppressed a laugh.  He urged the horse over to Jim and his horse and settled beside him.  Spock reached over and grabbed the reins from Jim and stopped the horse from walking.

“Paprika is the nicest and sweetest horse we own.  She would never try to kill you,” Spock told Jim.  Jim nodded but still was tense.

Spock shook his head and dismounted his horse and handed the reins to one of the horse handlers to take.  He then climbed onto Paprika and sat behind Jim. 

“You need to relax, Jim.”

Jim nodded, but didn’t.

Spock reached around the blonde the put the reins in Jim’s hands, “Just relax and go slow.”

Jim nodded and carefully urge the horse forward.  Paprika started walking on.  After a few moments Jim relaxed and smiled.

“This isn’t too bad,” Jim said, urging the horse to go a little faster.

Spock smiled and wrapped his arms around Jim’s waist.

“After this do you want me to teach you how to swim?” Jim asked.

“Absolutely not.”

* * *

 

Jim was not upset.  He wasn’t.  He didn’t get upset over silly things like leaving camp and his new friend. Jim stood with Spock by their tree and kicked at a rock on the ground.  Spock had been trying to say something to him for the past few minutes but hadn’t gotten it out.

Jim looked up to the slightly older boy and saw he was holding a piece of paper in his hand.  Spock quickly shoved it into Jim’s hand.

“It’s my address.  Well…it’s a PO Box because we travel a lot but my father’s staff always check the box so you can write to me and I’ll get the letter,” Spock quickly said.

Jim looked at the address and nodded, “Okay.  I may not be able to write a bunch because my mom is going to get custody of us soon and we may move back to Iowa.”

“Oh…okay…well…write if you can.  If you cannot than that is alright.”

Jim nodded and put the paper in his pocket, “I gotta go now.  We have to pack up our stuff and then the bus is leaving right after breakfast in the morning.”

Spock gave a little wave to Jim, “It has been a fun couple days with you.”

Jim smiled and punched Spock on the arm, “Yeah, ditto.”

“Bye Jim.”

“Seeya Spock.”

* * *

 

Amanda found her son the next morning, sitting on the steps of the staircase with his head in his hands. She gave him a sad smile and walked over to him and sat next to him and carded a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry we’re leaving, but summer is over and you have school,” Amanda said.

“I know,” Spock sighed out.

“I promise you can go to space camp next summer.”

Spock nodded as his father came down the stairs and looked to his wife and son. Amanda gave him a smile and looked back to Spock.  He saw the bracelet on his wrist and got an idea.

“Why don’t we go over to the camp and you can tell Jim goodbye again,” Amanda offered.

Spock only mumbled out something that Amanda couldn’t make out.

“You can give him that bracelet you made.”

Spock looked up to her and smiled, “I could.  It is a friendship bracelet.”

Amanda smiled and nodded, “I’m sure he’d love it if you gave it to him.”

Spock smiled big at her and rushed to the front door.  He opened the door and looked back to his mother, “Well, come on.  You have to drive.”

Amanda chuckled and got the keys and followed Spock to the jeep.

* * *

 

Jim gave the camp person his duffle bag and watched her put it into the bus. Jim then went to get in line behind the other kids to board the bus when a jeep pulled up nearby.  He smiled big when he saw Spock get out and look around.  Jim rushed over to his friend and pulled him into a hug.

“What are you doing here?” Jim asked, pulling back.

“Um…I…” Spock stuttered out, forgetting what he was doing there.

“Bracelet!” Amanda called out from the driver’s seat.  Spock nodded and took the bracelet off his wrist and handed it out to Jim.

Jim took it, looked at it and then looked up to Spock.  Spock’s brown eyes were looking to the ground. 

“Thank you,” Jim said.

Spock nodded, “It’s a friendship bracelet.  I want you to have it because we are friends.”

Jim smiled at that and nodded, “Yeah, I guess we are.  Thanks…I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you, though.”

Spock looked at him and shook his head, “It is alright.  I do not require anything in return.”

Spock helped Jim put on the bracelet and then Jim gave him a big hug which Spock returned.  They had to break apart when one of the camp staff called out for Jim because the buses were getting ready to leave.  Jim sighed and gave Spock another quick smile before reaching a hand up and ruffling Spock’s bowlcut and then running off to the bus and getting on.

Spock watched the buses leave and then started to cry.

* * *

 

Jim smiled in his seat and looked at the cool bracelet that Spock had given him.  He then pulled out the paper with Spock’s address on it and look it over.  He would definitely try and write to his friend. 

The paper was then ripped from his grasp. 

“Hey!” Jim fussed, looking up to see his brother leaning over the back of his seat and holding the paper.

“What’s this?” Sam sneered.

“It’s mine! Give it back!”

Sam laughed and shook his head, “Seriously.  That little rich boy doesn’t want to be your friend.”

“He is my friend,” Jim snapped.

“Is he your _boyfriend_?”another camper, who was friends with Sam asked in a funny voice.

“Shut up!”

Sam and the camper laughed at Jim.

“He just pities you because we’re in foster care,” Sam told him before crumpling up the paper and throwing it out of an open window. 

Jim stood up and shoved at Sam, who was laughing, before looking out the window.  He tried not to cry as he saw the paper shrink away in the distant as the bus continued on down the road.


	2. Second Summer

Spock sighed as the limo pulled in front of the lake house the next summer. He did go to space camp but there was still a few more weeks left until the new school year began.  His mother and father had traveled most of the summer, but now wanted to spend the last few weeks at their lake house and relax. 

Spock got out of the limo and looked across the lake at the camp.  He could see some campers in the distant running around, but Spock knew that Jim wasn’t one of them and that made him sad.  Jim had not written to him at all since last summer.  Spock understood.  Jim was probably back in Iowa with his mom and brother and many other friends.

He sighed again and headed into the house were his mother immediately greeted him with a big hug.

“My baby!” Amanda squealed, crushing her son in a hug. 

Spock hugged her back but then started to struggle out of her grasp, “I am thirteen, not a baby.”

“You’ll always be my baby! I have missed you so much!”

“I missed you too.  Mother, I cannot breathe.”

Amanda chuckled and released her son so that he could breathe and she could kiss his cheeks.

“How was London?” Spock asked her, trying really hard not to wipe at his cheeks. He just knew there were lipstick marks on them.

“It was fine.  Would’ve been better if you had been there instead of at space camp.”

“I wanted to go to space camp.  Not London.  And based on the weather reports that I read, it rained for 87% of your duration in London,” Spock informed her.

Amanda smiled and nodded, “It did. Why don’t you go outside for a bit and play.  I’ll see to it that your stuff is put away in your room, okay?”

Spock reluctantly nodded and turned and left the house. 

* * *

 

He wiped at the lipstick on his cheeks as he wandered through the woods to the tree that had his and Jim’s names carved into it.  He came to the tree in the clearing and walked over to it.  Spock lifted one of his hands and traced over the initials with a soft smile.  He thought about last summer and Jim’s smile and bright blue eyes. If Spock had been paying attention he would have heard someone carefully approach him.

“BOO!” someone yelled behind him.

Spock screamed, scared at the sudden noise and turned around quickly to come face to face with Jim.  The blonde boy then started laughing hysterically.

“Oh my god! You screamed like a girl,” Jim laughed out. Spock clenched his fists and then pushed at Jim, hard, causing the younger boy to fall to the ground, still laughing.

“Do not do that!” Spock yelled at him.

* * *

 

Spock sat down on a stump as Jim stopped laughing and composed himself. Spock was only slightly mad at the other boy for scaring him.  He was actually more pleased than anything that Jim was there.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Jim said, walking over to Spock and sitting next to him.  “Do you forgive me?”

Spock nodded, turning to look at the boy.  Jim’s hair was slightly longer than last summer and he hadn’t grown all that much either.  Spock was still taller than him.

“I’m also sorry I didn’t write.  My brother is an ass and he threw out the paper with your address on it.”

“It is okay.  What happened to you moving back to Iowa with your mother?” Spock asked, glancing down to Jim’s wrist. Jim was still wearing the bracelet.

Jim looked down but then shrugged, “She…she’s still working on getting us back.  She’s gotta go to rehab…again.”

“I am sorry.”

Jim smiled and looked at him, “Don’t be.  Sam and I have a new foster family and they’re pretty cool. Hopefully we’ll stay with them for a while and not be moved to another family. So, anyway.  We have the next eight days to hang out.  What do you wanna do?”

Spock thought about it and then asked, “Horseback riding?”

Jim shook his head, “I still think Paprika is trying to kill me.  How about we go canoeing?”

Spock looked mortified at that suggestion and shook his head.

“Spock, come on.  You can wear a lifejacket so you won’t drown.  Please?”  Jim then gave him, what could be described as, a puppy dog look.

Spock caved.

* * *

 

Spock sat in the canoe with a life jacket on as Jim paddled them out onto the lake.  Spock really didn’t want to do this, but Jim had given him that look and Spock couldn’t refuse.  If Jim was happy then Spock was happy.

“So, how’s school?” Jim asked, “I bet you go to some fancy, preppy private school.”

Spock nodded and gripped his hands to his seat to keep him grounded.  He didn’t want to fall in.

“Actually I spent the year at a boarding school back east. I’ll be back at my regular private school in the fall.”

“Boarding school? That sucks.”

“It has its moments. My parents had to travel extensively during the year and it was better for me to attend the boarding school than accompany them.”

“Well how was it then?” Jim questioned.

Spock sighed, “It was…fine.”

“I thought you said fine has variable definitions?” Jim teased him. “I bet you’re like student body president or something because you’re so popular.”

Spock shook his head, “I am not popular.  I actually….” Spock trailed off and looked away.

Jim stopped paddling and looked to his friend, “You actually what?”

Spock continued to look away but did say, “I do not have any friends.”

“Bullshit!”

Spock huffed at that and looked back to Jim, “It is true.  I do not have any friends even though I was a part of several clubs.  The other students just…they did not like me and they ignored me.”

Jim moved closer to Spock in the canoe so that he was directly in front of him, “Well fuck ‘em.”

“Your language is…”

“I know I have a potty mouth, but seriously…you are like the most awesome person I know and your classmates are complete fuckwits if they don’t see it.  You’re my best friend, Spock.” Jim didn’t want to admit to Spock that he really didn’t have that many friends.  Especially at the camp.  His brother was the popular one. 

Spock smiled at that and looked away as his cheeks tinted red a bit.

“We’re almost to your side of the lake.  When we get there we can go to your room and play or we could swim in your indoor pool.”

“I do not…”

“Yeah, yeah…you don’t know how to swim.  You can keep the lifejacket on and just float around.  The pool only goes to five feet deep.”

Spock nodded which made Jim smile big and start to paddle again.

* * *

 

Spock managed to convince Jim that chess would be better instead of playing in the indoor pool.  Jim didn’t really mind.  He liked chess and Spock was a worthy opponent.

He left Spock in one of the many rooms of the house and went to the restroom.  When he returned he found a tall man in the room talking to Spock.  The man then nodded his head at Jim before leaving the room.

“Who’s Lurch?” Jim asked, sitting back at the chess set.

Spock quirked an eyebrow, “What?”

“That guy…he looked like Lurch.  Who is he?”

“He is my father, Sarek.  Who is Lurch?”

Jim chuckled, “Lurch.  From the Addams family.”

Spock just stared blankly at Jim before shaking his head.

* * *

 

That evening at dinner, after Jim had gone back to camp, Spock stared at his father.

_Lurch...I am not familiar with the Addams family,_ Spock thought, still staring at his father.

“Is there something you wish to say, Spock?” Sarek asked, getting a little unnerved at his son’s constant staring.

“Do you know the Addams family?” Spock asked.

Sarek and Amanda looked at each other before Sarek shook his head, “I do not know anyone with the surname of Addams.”

Spock nodded and looked at his dinner plate.

“The Addams family?” Amanda asked.  “Are you talking about the fictional family?”

“I do not know,” Spock replied, looking to his mother.  “Is there a character named Lurch in the family?”

Amanda nodded, “Lurch is their manservant slash butler. Why?”

“Earlier today Jim compared father to that of Lurch.”

Amanda went silent.  She then looked to her husband and stared at him before bursting out in laughter.

“Oh my goodness! He does resemble Lurch!” Amanda started laughing.

Sarek and Spock exchanged a look before getting up from the table and leaving the room.

* * *

 

Spock met Jim at the camp the next day and Jim showed him around.  The previous summer, Spock really hadn’t explored the camp that much. Jim showed him his bunk and where he had carved his name above it.

“So everyone knows this is my bunk,” Jim told him.

Spock nodded and then followed Jim to another cabin.  He recognized it as the one he made the bracelet in last summer.

“They’re doing some pottery stuff,” Jim said.  “Wanna make something?”

“That would be agreeable.”

Jim gave him a big smile before grabbing Spock by the hand and dragging his friend into the cabin.  Spock stared at where Jim was holding his hand and knew he was blushing.

* * *

 

“I won’t let my brother take the address away this time,” Jim said.  “I promise I will write.”

Spock nodded.  It was their last day together and Spock was helping Jim pack up his duffle bag so it would be ready in the morning. He watched Jim tuck the piece of paper into the bag for safe keeping. The past week had been great.  Jim and Spock had talked about so much stuff that Spock knew almost everything about the blonde and vice versa. 

“Do you live in San Francisco?” Jim asked.

“Sometimes,” Spock replied. “We live mostly in Washington, DC.”

Jim nodded at that, grabbed a bag from his bunk and then took Spock’s hand, leading him out of the cabin.  Jim had been holding his hand a lot over the past few days.  Not that Spock minded.

“I have something for you,” Jim said, walking with Spock into the woods and to their tree.

“You do not need to give me anything, Jim,” Spock told him as Jim let go of his hand and face him.

“I know, but you gave me that bracelet last summer.  I made it in the arts and crafts cabin.”

Jim took out the craft from the bag and held it in his palm, “It’s supposed to be a starship, because you went to space camp and stuff. I guess it could be a small paperweight also.”

Spock carefully took the little clay starship from Jim and smiled, “I love it. Thank you.”

Jim smiled big at his friend.

_He is cute,_ Spock thought.

“Well, since it’s our last day together to hang out…wanna go swimming in your indoor pool?” Jim asked, giving Spock a puppy dog look.

Spock caved.

* * *

 

Spock hugged Jim tight the next morning.  He did not want his friend to leave but they both had to go their separate ways.

“I can’t breathe, Spock,” Jim chuckled out, patting Spock on the back. Spock nodded and released Jim and took a small step back.

“Maybe I will see you next summer,” Spock said. “But I do hope that your mother regains custody of you and your brother as well.”

“Considering my mom’s track record with that stuff, I’m pretty sure I’ll be back next summer.  I’ll write you and keep you updated about it though.”

“Jim! It’s time to go!” a camp staffer called to him.  Jim waved a hand at her and said he’d be right there.

“I gotta go now, Spock,” Jim sighed out.  He then grinned and reached a hand up to Spock’s bowlcut and ruffled it.

“Must you always do that?” Spock huffed out.

Jim chuckled and nodded, “Yep.”

“I will grow it out then.”

“No, Spock.  I like the bowlcut, don’t change it.”

“JIM!” the camp staffer again yelled.  Jim groaned and then gave Spock another quick hug.  He then waved to Amanda and Sarek standing nearby.

“Seeya Lurch! Morticia!” Jim said to them before turning and running off to the bus.  Amanda laughed at that and then stopped when her husband quirked an eyebrow at her.

“What? That was funny,” Amanda told him as their son walked back over them.  Spock looked upset and stared at his feet. Amanda pulled him into a hug.

“He’ll write to you this time, sweetheart.”

“I hope so,” Spock replied, hugging his mother back.


	3. Third Summer

Jim was upset that he and his brother were still in foster care.  They left the courthouse without their mom after the judge decided she needed more parent classes and rehab or she could sign over her rights to Jim and Sam and make them available to be adopted.  Jim almost cried when his mother said she’d think about signing her rights away.  She didn’t even want to hug her sons before they had to leave the courthouse.  Jim looked to his brother as they got into the child services van.  Sam looked more upset than Jim.  They had been in and out of foster care for the past six years, since Jim was six and Sam was nine, and it was taking a toll on them. 

Jim sighed and looked down to his friendship bracelet Spock had given him two summers ago.  It was his favorite thing he had and he was looking forward to seeing his friend when summer time came. They had been exchanging letters back and forth since summer ended and Jim kept all the letters in a shoebox under his bed.

The van drove them back to their foster family’s house.  A horrible couple with five other kids in the house. Jim didn’t get along with any of them and Sam didn’t either.  The father of the house, Frank, was a real piece of shit and he and his wife were only fostering children to collect the money. Sam and Frank got into fights all the time and Jim usually got dragged into them.

They exited the van and walked into the house as Frank came out of the living room with a beer in his hand.

“Well look who’s back with no mommy,” Frank sneered at them.  Frank’s biological son, laughed at them from a top of the stairs.  He was the only kid that actually got new clothes and toys.

“Fuck you,” Sam spat out. 

Frank glared at them and then threw the beer bottle at them.  Sam and Jim ducked out the way as the bottle flew past them and shattered when it hit the wall behind them. Sam then lunged at Frank.  Jim watched Sam and Frank fight before Frank threw Sam into the wall and yelled at him.  Sam yelled back and then rushed up the stairs to his room that he shared with some of the other kids.

Jim just stood there, frozen as Frank looked at him and then turned and went back into the living room.  Sam came back downstairs with a backpack and stormed past Jim and out of the front door.  Jim followed him.

“What are you doing?” Jim asked his brother, following him down the street.

“I’m leaving,” Sam replied.

Jim grabbed his brother’s arm and made him turn back around and face him.

“You can’t leave,” Jim told him.  “Mom will…”

“Mom won’t, Jim.  She doesn’t care about us or anything for that matter.  All she cares about is getting high.” Sam shook his head and took a deep breath before continuing with, “I can’t keep doing this, Jim.  I can’t keep jumping from foster home to foster home because sooner or later they’ll just put me in a reform school or group home until I’m eighteen and then kick me out.  I don’t want that so I’m leaving now.”

“What about me?” Jim asked, his voice cracking a bit.

“You’ll be fine.  You’ll find a nice family that will want to adopt you,” Sam told him, reaching a hand out and ruffling his hair. “I’ll see you later, Jim.  Bye.”

Sam then turned back and headed down the road.  Jim stood there and watched him disappear from his sight and then got mad.  Jim ran back to Frank’s house and entered the house.  Frank was in the living room, drinking, and not paying attention to anything.  Jim saw red as he grabbed the keys to Frank’s precious antique convertible mustang.

* * *

 

Spock rushed around the lake to the camp on the other side.  He ignored all the other campers and headed for Jim’s cabin.  He entered and went to Jim’s bunk and climbed up the ladder to the top bunk where he found Jim laying there, staring up to the planks above him that had ‘Jim’s Bunk’ carved into it.

“You did not come to our tree,” Spock said softly. 

“I don’t have a mom anymore,” Jim replied.

Spock’s eyes went wide, “Did she…has she passed away?”  Spock knew that Jim’s mother was addicted to various illegal substances which could lead to her overdosing.  He already knew that Jim’s father had passed away when Jim was a baby in an automobile accident.  He hoped Jim wasn’t an orphan now.

Jim forced out a laugh and shook his head, “No.  She signed away her rights.  I’m officially available to be adopted.”

“I am sorry, Jim.”

Jim shrugged as Spock climbed onto the bunk and laid down beside his friend.  He turned his head to stare at the side of Jim’s head.

“What about your brother?” Spock asked.

“He ran away.  I haven’t seen or heard from him in months.”

Spock didn’t know what to say, but he now knew why Jim hadn’t written to him. 

“Do you…do you wanna play?”

“No I don’t, Spock.  Just…” Jim turned and looked to Spock before turning onto his side and cuddling up against Spock’s side.  “Just lay here with me for a while.  We can play chess later or something.”  Jim closed his eyes and rested his head on Spock’s chest as Spock laid there, unable to move.

Spock then carefully wrapped his arms around his upset friend and held him.

“Anything you want, Jim.”

* * *

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t write to you the past few months,” Jim said.  Jim felt better a few days later and came by Spock’s house to hang out.  They were sitting in a living room area downstairs playing chess when Jim started to tell Spock about what had happened since the last letter he sent.  Jim had told him that he almost got sent to juvie because he stole his foster father’s car and drove it off a dock and into the ocean back in San Francisco. Spock had been mortified but felt slightly better when Jim had told him that he wasn’t in the car when he did it, that he had jumped out at the last second.

“I understand, Jim,” Spock told him.  “If I was going through something like that then I would not feel up to corresponding.  You have an email account now, though.  So hopefully you will be able to correspond with me more.”

Jim chuckled and moved a chess piece, “Correspond?  You always talk so proper.  You’re fourteen…talk like a fourteen year old.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow at that before moving his rook on the chess board.  Spock then smiled and said, “It is your move…fuckwit.”

“Spock, watch your language,” his father scolded him.  Sarek had walked by the living room just as Spock swore and shook his head at his son before walking away.  Spock slouched down in his seat, embarrassed that he had been scolded in front of Jim. He looked up across the chessboard and saw Jim shaking so bad from keeping himself laughing out loud.

“Oh shut up,” Spock fussed at his friend who promptly fell out of his seat, laughing hysterically.

* * *

 

Jim was walking back to Spock’s room after getting a couple sodas from the kitchen.  He heard some music playing from a room down the hall so he went to investigate.  The door was cracked open a bit so Jim peaked in and smiled.  Spock’s parents were slowly dancing around the room.  Amanda had a soft smile on her face as Sarek twirled her about. 

_Aww...they’re so cute,_ Jim thought. He stood there for a bit and watched them until he felt someone walk up behind him.

“You’re parents are adorable,” Jim said, knowing that is was Spock behind him. 

Spock looked past Jim and into the room and nodded, “Yes.”

Jim turned around and smiled at Spock before grabbing his friend’s hand and leading him back to his bedroom.

“Do you know how to dance like that?” Jim asked when they were back in Spock’s room.

“I do,” Spock replied.

“That’s cool, I guess.  I’m not much of a dancer.  We had an end of the year dance at school and I just sat on the side lines and watched the other people.”

“Would you care to dance?” Spock blurted out.  He went still after he asked that and realized that it was a stupid question.

Jim stared at Spock before laughing, “You wanna dance? With me?”

Spock’s face was red in embarrassment, “No…yes…I mean if you want to.  I could…I could teach you how to dance.”

The blonde thought about it before nodding, “Okay. Sure.  Teach me.”

* * *

 

Amanda suppressed a delightful squeal as she peaked into Spock’s room several minutes later.  Spock was attempting to teach his friend how to dance. Jim kept laughing as they stepped on each other’s feet and twirled around the room.

_Too cute,_ Amanda thought before rushing to her study and grabbing up a Polaroid camera.  She went back to Spock’s room and held the camera up and quickly snapped a picture. The flash notified Jim and Spock to her presence and Spock stepped back from his friend and glared at his mother.

“Mom!” Spock fussed at her in embarrassment as Jim and Amanda laughed.

* * *

 

“I promise to email you all the time, Spock,” Jim said, giving him a big hug.  The bus was again waiting for Jim to say goodbye to his friend before they could leave the camp.

Spock hugged him back and replied, “And I will respond to your emails.”

Jim chuckled and pulled back, “Hopefully by next summer I’ll be adopted.  I’m cute, anybody would want to adopt me.”

“Indeed.”

Jim gave Spock a smile and then reached a hand out to ruffle Spock’s bowlcut.

“Must you?” Spock asked.

“Yep, always.”

“Goodbye, Jim.”

“Seeya, Spock.”


	4. Fourth Summer

“Maybe you should grow your hair out,” Jim said to his friend as they put on fencing equipment at the camp. “You’re fifteen and you still have a bowlcut.”

Spock shook his head at his friend as he watched Jim put on the mask and pick up his foil.  Jim had expressed an interest in fencing last summer after seeing Spock’s fencing trophy in his room from private school.  Naturally that made Spock go to his parents and insist they provide fencing equipment for the summer camp.

“You said you like my hair the way it is,” Spock retorted. Jim shrugged at that.

“Can you leave your mask off and let me see if I can cut your bangs off your bowlcut with my sword?” Jim asked, humor evident in his tone.

“It is a foil not a sword and it is not at all sharp enough to cut my bangs off,” Spock replied before putting on his mask and picking up his foil.

“Whatever, Spock, I’m going to kick your ass at this.”

Spock quirked an eyebrow at that behind his mask as he got into stance.

* * *

 

“I hate you,” Jim teased as they headed to the mess hall for lunch.

“You do not,” Spock replied, “You are just upset that I am better than you at fencing.”

Jim gave him a look before shaking his head, “At least I kick your ass at chess.”

Spock lightly chuckled and followed Jim into the mess hall and to the line for lunch. Jim gave him a tray and pointed out the food.

“It’s mac-n-cheese day.  They also have little hotdogs too,” Jim told him.

“You are aware that I am a vegetarian.”

“Then don’t eat the hotdogs.  Look, they also have salads. Oh! And peach cobbler!”

Spock nodded and grabbed a bowl of mac-n-cheese and a salad.  Spock watched Jim take a couple juice boxes for them and some peach cobbler before heading over to a table in the corner and sitting down.

“So how’s school?” Jim asked as they ate lunch.

“Okay,” Spock replied.

“Just okay?”

Spock shrugged, “I have a friend.”

“Of course you have a friend. Me.  I’m your only friend.”

Spock shook his head, “I have another friend.  Uhura.  She is teaching me Swahili.”

Jim wiggled his eyebrows at his friend, “Uhura?”

“She is an exchange student from Kenya.”

“Is she your…girlfriend?”

Spock let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, “She is a girl who happens to be my friend.  She is not my girlfriend.”

Jim chuckled and went back to eating his lunch while Spock stared at him. 

.

.

.

Spock waited a few moments and then asked, “Do you…do you have a girlfriend?”

Jim looked at him with a mouthful of mac-n-cheese and grinned.

“Why do you want to know?” Jim asked.

“You asked if Uhura was my girlfriend.  I merely want to know if you have a girlfriend.”

Jim shook his head, “No.  I don’t think I want a girlfriend.”

Spock nodded and looked down to his salad.

“I think I’d like a boyfriend one day,” Jim said. 

Spock snapped his head up and stared at Jim who ignored him and went back to eating his mac-n-cheese.

* * *

 

“Do you think I’ll ever be adopted and find a forever family?” Jim asked.  The camp had some campfires going and people were making s’mores.  Jim and Spock had their own little campfire a short distance away from the groups.

“I believe you will be adopted soon,” Spock replied. “You are smart, kind, and….” _Beautiful._ “Anyone would be lucky to adopt you.”

Jim leaned against Spock’s side and nodded, “I’ve had five interviews with families since last summer.  No one wants me.”

“Someone will.  You will find a family.”

“Can your parents adopt me?”

Spock tried to sputter out a reply to that but luckily Jim laughed and shook his head, “No.  You’re parents are cool, but I want my own.”

Spock nodded at that, _Good.  Because I do not wish for your to be my brother._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today...next chapter will be longer :)


	5. Fifth Summer

Spock laid on his bed and read over one of his new books he purchased before coming up to the lake house with his parents.  He was quite caught up in the book that he didn’t hear the door to his room open and someone walk in.  He did notice someone in the room when water hit him in the side of the face.  He jumped out of his bed and looked to see his mother standing there with a big grin on her face and holding a water gun.

“Mother,” Spock fussed, “I was reading.”

“I didn’t hit the book,” Amanda replied, “I hit you.”  She then grinned again and held up the gun and hit him some more with water. Spock groaned, sat his book down and then walked over to his mother and took the water gun from her before walking out of his room and out of the house.

* * *

 

Spock walked to his and Jim’s tree and found Jim siting up on a branch.  The blonde smiled at Spock and waved at him.

“Bout time you showed up!” Jim yelled at him. “I told your mom like fifteen minutes ago to tell you to meet me here.”

Spock just walked over and stared up at Jim before lifting the water gun and squirting water at him.

“Hey! No fair, I don’t have one!”

Spock merely smirked up at Jim before he saw Jim grin and jump down.  Spock put his gun down as Jim walked behind the big tree and come back around with a bigger water gun. Spock’s eyes went wide before he turned and started running away.

* * *

 

Jim caught up to him near Spock’s house and hit him several times with the water gun.  Spock then tripped over something on the ground and fell down as Jim ran up and stood over him with the water gun.  Spock laid on the ground and stared up at Jim who grinned down at him.  Jim pointed the water gun at Spock’s chest.

“Do you surrender?” Jim asked.

Spock held up his hands in defeat and nodded, “Yes.”

Jim chuckled.  He threw the water gun to the side and then joined Spock on the ground, lying next to him.

“How come you haven’t come over to the camp?  I’ve been here for a whole day now and I haven’t seen you.” Jim asked him.

“I have been…busy.”

“You’re mom said that all you have been doing is reading.”

“I enjoy reading.”

“I do to but I also like hanging out with you.  Have you been avoiding me?”

“No, I merely wished to read my new books.”

_It is not because I believe that I may be in love with you,_ Spock thought.

Jim looked at him and then shrugged, “Well, I like books as well, but now you’re outside and we get to hang out.”

“Have you…did you have any more interviews?” Spock asked.

Jim sighed and nodded, “Yeah.  Three interviews.  Didn’t work out.  I’m in a group home now.”

“I’m sorry, Jim.”

“Don’t be.  It’s alright actually.  I have my own bed and the other kids are cool.  Okay, enough laying around…let’s go do something.”

* * *

 

Spock wrung his hands as he and Jim sat on the deck on Spock’s side of the lake.  They had played all day and the sun was almost ready to set.  There was a couple out on the lake in a small boat making out.  Jim was watching them and shaking with laughter.

“ _That_ is why it’s called tonsil hockey,” Jim chuckled out, pointing to the couple.  “I mean, seriously, look at them. It’s like they’re trying to eat each other’s face.”

Spock glanced to the couple and then looked to Jim next to him, “I would not know.  Is what they are doing…wrong?”

Jim looked at Spock in surprise, “Are you serious?  Do you not know how to kiss?”

Spock looked away and blushed.  He shook his head and waited for Jim to laugh at him.

“Don’t you…don’t you go to make-out parties?”

Spock quirked an eyebrow and looked at Jim, “What?”

“Kids at my school throw make-out parties all the time. Okay so I’ve only been to three of them but the ones I’ve been to were fun.”

“Did you kiss a lot of people?”

Jim shrugged, “I made-out with Gaila once but that was weird because we’re friends.  Then I met Gabriel and wow…he was cute.  Not a great kisser, but still cute.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Jim laughed at that, “No way.”  Jim then looked away from the couple on the lake to Spock and smiled, “Do you…want to?”

Spock nodded and smiled, “I do want to be your boyfriend.”

Jim’s smile went away and he looked away from Spock. 

_I said something wrong,_ Spock thought.  _He was probably joking._

“I do not want to be your boyfriend. I did not mean to say that,” Spock quickly said, getting up and rushing back to the house and up to his room.

* * *

 

Spock laid on his bed with his face buried in his pillow.  He had been holed up in his room for the past few days since he messed up.  Of course Jim wouldn’t want to be his boyfriend.  He was so stupid to think that was what Jim was asking him.  He heard someone knock on his door before hearing it open and someone walk in. 

“Go away, mother,” Spock said, turning his head to the side, away from the door.

“I am not your mother,” Sarek said. 

Spock closed his eyes and groaned, “I do not wish to talk.” 

Sarek walked over to Spock’s bed and sat down on it near his son, “You have been up here for the past two days.  Jim has come by almost every hour asking if you will come out.  Your mother and I have respected that you wish to be left alone and told Jim that you were unavailable.  However, this is getting ridiculous.  What is wrong?”

“I love Jim.”

Sarek internally sighed at hearing that.  It didn’t surprise him though.

“Are you just now realizing you have those feelings for him?”

Spock shook his head, “No.  I have had these feelings for four years…since he saved me from drowning.”

“Does Jim not return your regard?”

“I…I do not know.  I thought he asked to be boyfriends but…I believe he did not mean it so I ran away.”

“Did he explicitly ask ‘Do you want to be…boyfriends?’?”

“No.  We were…we were discussing something and I…I messed up.”

“If Jim did not feel the same then he would not continue to come here and request for you to come out and play.  Talk to him.  Talking is key to any relationship.”

Spock nodded, “I will go out in a little while.”

“Good,” Sarek said, reaching a hand out and patting his son on his back before standing and leaving the room.

* * *

 

Spock wandered around in the woods, thinking of what he’d say to Jim.  He came up to the clearing with their tree and stopped.  He saw Jim standing in front of the tree with his knife.  Carving something on the tree.

_He’s scratching out my name,_ Spock assumed.  He rushed over and pulled at Jim’s hand.  Jim turned to him with wide eyes.

“Don’t do that!” Jim fussed at him, “I could’ve cut you!”

“Don’t scratch out…” Spock started but then looked at the tree.  Jim wasn’t scratching out Spock’s name.  Instead, he was carving a heart around their names.  Spock stared at it as Jim shuffled his feet on the ground and looked around.

“Yeah…well, you wouldn’t come out so I thought I’d do this just in case you came out here on your own and would see it,” Jim said.

Spock looked at Jim and nodded, “It is not complete.” 

Jim looked up at the other boy and smiled, handing over his pocket knife so Spock could finish up the heart.

* * *

 

They sat on the stump next to the tree after the heart was complete.  They sat in silence for a little while before Jim started talking.

“So…I wasn’t asking if you would be my boyfriend,” Jim started to say.  Spock sucked in a breath and nodded.

_I knew it,_ Spock thought.

“I _was_ trying to ask if you wanted to make-out,” Jim finished.

Spock blushed and turned his head to look at the blonde, “What?”

“Okay, so yeah I do want to be…you know…boyfriends.  I really like you and have since like…our first summer together.  I thought if we…made-out then you’d want to be more than friends.”

“I have, too, liked you since our first summer.”

Jim looked at him and smiled, his blue eyes big and bright, “So…wanna make-out…boyfriend?”

Spock smiled and nodded as Jim leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against Spock’s.

* * *

 

“I will get better at it,” Spock said.  “It was my first time kissing someone and I know it was not the best.  If we continue to kiss more than I will get the hang of it.”

Jim smiled and then laughed, shaking his head at his new boyfriend.

“You are amused.”

Jim nodded.  He grabbed Spock’s hand and intertwined their fingers as they walked back to Spock’s place.

“Why?”

Jim sighed, “Because you’re cute, that’s why.”

Spock frowned at that, “I still do not understand why you are amused.”

“Spock, it was great, okay?  You’re a great kisser.”

“I do not…” Spock started but Jim interrupted him by turning, leaning up and pressing his lips to Spock’s. This time the kiss lasted longer than the previous ones back at the tree.  Jim moved his arms around Spock’s neck pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. Two hands fell on Jim’s hips to pull him even closer until they were pressed up against each other with no room left between them. Their mouths separated and met each other again.

Jim decided to take a little bit advantage of Spock and coaxed his mouth open, letting his tongue slid inside to curl around the tongue he found there.  Spock shivered at the contact and then took control of the kiss. He broke away before pressing his lips back to Jim’s and deepening it. They continued kissing for a long time, until Jim pulled away with a big grin, his lips swollen.

“See…you’re a great kisser,” Jim sighed out before grabbing Spock’s hand and leading him back to his house. Spock licked his lips and nodded, allowing Jim to pull him along.

“Better than Gabriel?”

Jim chuckled and nodded, “So much better than Gabriel.”

* * *

 

After lunch at Spock’s, Jim and Spock hung out upstairs in Spock’s room.  Jim actually wanted to fiddle with the Legos and had to keep pushing Spock away from kissing him.

“I’ll kiss you later,” Jim smiled and said to him, “I want to build a car.”

“I have a car,” Spock told him, trying to kiss Jim again.  He really enjoyed kissing the blonde but Jim moved his head and Spock kissed his cheek instead.

“You have a car?” Jim asked, turning to look at Spock.

Spock nodded, trying to lean in for a kiss but Jim put his hand on his chest and kept him back.

“Where is it?”

“It is back east at my home.  My parents purchased it for me for my sixteenth birthday.”

Jim smiled big, “So that means…you have a driver’s license?”

“It does.”

Jim grinned at his boyfriend.

“I do not like that look, Jim.  It is a no to whatever you are planning.”

“I’ll give you more kisses if you drive me somewhere.”

Spock shook his head.

“You can kiss me whenever you want if you drive me somewhere.  Let’s go get ice-cream!”

“You are manipulating me.”

“With kisses,” Jim smiled at him, fluttering his eye lashes a bit.

Spock stared at Jim before sighed and nodding, “Fine, but just to get ice-cream.”

Jim let out a ‘whoop’ before standing up and heading for the door.

“Let me ask my mother for the keys to the jeep,” Spock then said which caused Jim to let out a groan.

“Nooo.  Just take the keys,” Jim told him.

“I need to ask first.”

“She’ll just say ‘no’.  Just grab the keys, Spock.  Live a little.  Be a rebel.”

“We have been in a relationship for less than an hour and you have already become a bad influence on me.”

Jim smiled and nodded, “Yeah, but you get all the kisses that you want.”

* * *

 

Jim went out first to the jeep and got in while Spock went over to the key-bowl in the kitchen.  He grabbed the keys and put them in his pocket.  He made it to the front door when his parents came out of a side room and stared at him.

“Where are you going?” Sarek asked.

Spock paused and then turn to his parents, keeping one hand on the front door, “I…Jim and I are going to go to the camp.”

“Oh, okay.  Have fun, sweetie,” Amanda said before walking across the room and going into the study.  Sarek nodded at his son and then went into the kitchen.  Spock then bolted from the house and got into the jeep and started it up.  Jim laughed as Spock put his seatbelt on, fussed at Jim to put his on before driving off.

* * *

 

“I cannot believe you talked me into this,” Spock said as he drove towards the nearby town.  It was a good thirty minutes away from the lake.

“Yes, but now you can spend the rest of my time at camp getting kissed,” Jim replied.

Spock shook his head and concentrated on the road.

* * *

 

When they got close to the town Spock asked where Jim wanted to get ice-cream.

Jim looked away, “Just…I don’t know…can you keep driving?”

“I cannot.  The town is coming up soon so we will have to stop.”

“No, just…can we just runaway together?”

Spock looked to Jim and saw that he was upset.  Spock pulled to jeep over on the side of the road and turn the jeep off.  He turn in his seat and grabbed Jim’s hand.

“What is wrong?” Spock asked.

Jim sniffled, “I’m fourteen.  I’m never going to be adopted and find a forever home.  I’ll just be shuffled from foster home to group home until I’m eighteen and then be kicked out.  Nowhere to go.”

“That will not happen, Jim.  I will not let that happen.”

Jim shook his head, “I don’t want your parents to adopt me.  They’re cool, but...”

“No, Jim.  If…if no one adopts you by the time you’re eighteen, we can get married.”

Jim looked at Spock and stared into those big brown eyes and then laughed. Spock creased his eyebrows together and stared at the laughing teenager.

“Hahaha…married? That’s so funny, Spock.” Jim laughed out.  “I needed that, thank you. I’m fourteen Spock.  I am sooo not thinking about marriage.  That was funny.”

“Right…yes…funny,” Spock nodded, “Now that you have laughed, I will say that…Jim, I really do believe that there is a family out there for you.  You will get adopted.”

“The odds are not in my favor. People don’t want to adopt teenagers.  They want cute little newborns and toddlers.”

“You will get adopted, Jim.  You will.”

Jim nodded, “If you say so.  You sure we can’t just runaway?”

Spock shook his head, “If you do not want to marry me then we cannot runaway together.”

Jim laughed again, “Yeah and also I think your mom would track us down in a heartbeat.”

“She would,” Spock agreed.  He squeezed Jim’s hand, running a thumb over the bracelet and then kissed his cheek before settling back in the driver’s seat.  “Ice-cream?”

Jim smiled and nodded.

* * *

 

Spock dropped Jim off near the camp so they wouldn’t get caught.  They made-out for a several minutes before Jim pulled away with a smile and exited the jeep to head back to camp for dinner.  Spock watched him walk away before driving the jeep back to his house.  He parked it and then entered the house.  He walked into the kitchen and sat the keys in the bowl, ignoring the staff who were puttering about making dinner. He then headed upstairs to his room and waited until it was time for dinner.

* * *

 

“Are we going to say anything about the jeep?” Sarek asked his wife as they heard Spock return and head up to his room.

Amanda smiled and shook her head.

“Why?”

“Because he’s sixteen and we trust him.  He has never done anything rebellious before and I’m actually happy he finally did something.”

“You are pleased he took the jeep without out permission and drove off with his fourteen year old boyfriend?”

“They were only gone for an hour, Sarek.  They probably just drove into town or something.”

Sarek sighed and shook his head, “You are most perplexing, wife.”

* * *

 

Jim hugged Spock tight and didn’t want to let go because as soon as he did then he would have to go back to camp and leave. Spock hugged him back just as tightly before reluctantly pulling away.  His eyes watered a bit as he kissed Jim’s cheek. Spock grabbed Jim’s wrist and ran his thumb over the bracelet that Jim still wore.

“I’ll email you,” Jim said.

Spock nodded.

Jim gave him a soft smile and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, “I’ll see you next summer.”

“Indeed.”

Jim reached a hand up and ruffled Spock’s hair before Spock pulled him in for a deep kiss.

* * *

 

Sarek walked passed the front door as the doorbell rang.  He diverted his path to his study and answered the door before the butler got there.  A staffer from the camp and the bus were parked outside the house.

“You are looking for Jim,” Sarek stated, internally sighing. 

The staffer smiled and nodded.

“Please wait here while I go retrieve him,” Sarek told her before turning and heading up to his son’s room. He opened the door and found the two boys sitting on the bed and making out.  Sarek cleared his throat but they didn’t separate.  He then went over and grabbed his son by the ear and pulled him away.  Jim looked startled as Spock started fussing about his ear.

“Ow my ear,” Spock fussed.

“James, the bus is outside.  I am sorry, but it is time to leave,” Sarek said.

The blonde boy nodded, “Um...okay.  Bye, Spock.  I’ll…yeah…I’ll email you.”  As Jim walked by Sarek he said, “Seeya, Lurch.”

Sarek inclined his head at the boy and watched him leave before taking Spock by his ear to find his wife.  Spock fussed the whole time, trying to get his father to release his ear.  They stood at the top of the stairs as Jim gave Amanda a hug goodbye before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Amanda turned and saw his husband and son at the top of the stairs.  She chuckled at the scene and walked up to them.

“Mother, my ear,” Spock whined, trying to squirm out of his father’s hold on him.

“Sarek, let him go,” Amanda told her husband who immediately obeyed.  Spock rubbed his ear as his mother patted him on the back.

“He is sixteen and Jim fourteen,” Sarek said.  “They should not be alone in bedrooms together.”

“It is not like either of them can get pregnant.  If you’re so worried then give Spock another ‘talk’,” Amanda told her husband before walking away.

Spock went wide-eyed at that and shook his head as his father internally groaned.

“I do not require another…talk,” Spock said.  “Jim and I were only kissing.  Nothing else.”

“And it better be nothing else until you’re married!” Amanda voice called out from down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so there will be one more chapter. Just a warning...this story will not have a happy ending. I'm sorry! 
> 
> There will be a sequel (this story was actually supposed to be just a prologue to that, but it got away from me) 
> 
> The sequel will have a happy ending. It will be an It Takes Two AU (the Olsen twins movie where they are identical strangers and switch places at camp)


	6. Last Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter...and just another heads up...this will not have a happy ending.  
> There will be a sequel and that will most definitely have a happy ending :)

A few weeks before Spock and his parents were to head to the lake house, Spock knocked on the door to his father’s study.

“Enter,” Sarek called out.  Spock opened the door and walked over to his father’s desk.

“I was wondering…may I have…five hundred dollars?” Spock asked.

“For what?”

“I wish to purchase something.”

“What do you wish to purchase?”

Spock looked away and fiddled with a figurine on his father’s desk.

“Spock?”

“Jewelry,” Spock quietly said.

“Jewelry?  For whom?”

“Father, please.”

Sarek internally sighed and stood up.  He walked over to a picture on the wall and pulled it back, revealing a wall safe behind it. He unlocked it and took out an envelope.  He counted out five, one hundred dollar bills and handed them to Spock.

“Thank you,” Spock said before walking out of the study.  Sarek shook his head at his son as he put the envelope back into the safe and locked it.  His wife entered as he moved the painting back in place.

“What did you need in the safe?” she asked, walking to his desk and putting a couple papers on it.

“Spock requested five hundred dollars,” Sarek replied, sitting behind his desk.

“Really? Why?”

“He stated he wished to buy jewelry.”

Amanda chuckled, “I hope he’s not going to buy Jim an engagement ring.”

* * *

 

When they arrived at the lake house, Spock went up to his room and sat his suitcase on the bed.  He opened it and pulled out the small box and held it in his hands.  He smiled thinking about how he would present it to Jim. 

“That better not be what I think it is,” Amanda fussed from behind her son.  Spock jumped and dropped the box as his mother walked over and picked it up and opened it. Inside was a white gold ring with two diamond hearts and ‘Spock’ and ‘Jim’ engraved next to them.

Amanda closed the box and looked to her son who had sat down on his bed, face red in embarrassment.

“Spock. Explain,” Amanda said.

“It is not an engagement ring,” Spock told her.  “It is a promise ring.”

Amanda sighed and sat down next to her son, “Spock, you are only seventeen.”

“I am aware and I also know that Jim is only fifteen.  He will be eighteen in a few years and the odds of him being adopted are slim.”

“So you want to marry him.  That’s not…”

“No, I just…I love him, mother.  I want him to be happy and I do hope beyond hope that he will find a forever family.  I just…just in case he does not, I want him to know that I will always be there for him.  Perhaps one day we will get married.  I would love that, but if we do not than that is also…alright.  I just want Jim to be happy.”

Amanda smiled at that and put her arm around his son’s shoulders, “You’re such a romantic sap.”

“Mother…” Spock sighed out as she chuckled.

“You get if from your father.  You know, he proposed after out third date.”

“I am aware.  You enjoying telling the story a lot,” Spock told her. “Mother, I know what I am doing with Jim.  I love him and he is it for me.”

“I know you think that now, but you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.   You’re seventeen and going off to college soon.  You might meet someone there who you would rather be with or Jim could find someone else.  I thought my high school sweetheart and I would be together forever but that obviously didn’t happen.”

Spock shook his head, “That will not happen to us.”

* * *

 

Spock walked around the lake to the side with the camp.  He passed by several campers in his search for his boyfriend. In his last email conversation with Jim, the other told him he had something he wanted to tell him in person. 

Spock rounded a cabin and stopped.  Jim was standing near another blonde boy around his age.  They were pretty close and Jim was smiling at the boy and nodding at something the boy was saying to him. 

Spock stepped back and hid behind the cabin a bit so that Jim and the boy would not see him.  He watched Jim say something and then the boy smile and lean forward. Spock turned quickly and ran off when the boy’s lips touched Jim’s. He did not want to talk to Jim anymore.

* * *

 

Jim pushed the other boy away and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“Dude? What the hell?” Jim fussed.

“You said you like boys.  I thought you and I…”

“I do and you thought wrong.  I have a boyfriend and I love him very much.”

The other boy shrugged and mumbled out a ‘whatever’ before stalking off. Jim shook his head and groaned before turning and heading towards the woods.  He wanted to see if Spock would be at their tree. 

* * *

 

Spock was fuming. 

_Is that what Jim wanted to tell him?  That he had a new boyfriend?_

Spock kicked at a rock on the ground and paced back and forth in front of their tree.

_It’s not our tree anymore,_ Spock snapped at himself.  He pulled the ring box from his pocked and threw is against the tree.  He didn’t want it anymore and didn’t care where it landed.

He turned when he heard someone approach and saw Jim coming towards him.  The blonde had a big smile on his face as he came up to Spock.

“Hey! I thought you’d be here,” Jim said.

Spock didn’t say anything, he just nodded and looked away.

“I went on some interviews since last summer,” Jim started.

“And let me guess…no one wanted you? That is not surprising,” Spock interrupted.

Jim looked at him in shock, “What? Spock…”

“You said it yourself, people do not want teenagers.  They especially do not want ones that their own drug addict mother did not want.”

Jim glared at him and reacted instantly by punching Spock in the face.  Spock stumbled back against the tree and held his hand to his nose that was now bleeding.

“Fuck you, Spock,” Jim yelled at him.  “You don’t know shit!”

“I know enough!  I know that you have a new boyfriend!”

Jim stepped back and stared at him, “Excuse me?”

“That blonde at camp.  I saw you two.  You kissed.”

“If you had seen the whole damn thing than you would know that _he_ kissed _me_ and that I pushed him away!  I told him I had a boyfriend.  A boyfriend that I loved very much, you stupid asshole.”

Spock went cold at hearing that and thought, _Oh no. No no no._

“Jim…Jim, I…” Spock tried but Jim shook his head.  He had tears streaming down his face.

“I don’t want to hear it.  I can’t believe you would think I would cheat on you.  I can’t believe you think that no one wants to adopt me. Did you lie to me every time you said you believed I would find a forever home?” Jim sobbed out.

Spock shook his head, his own eyes tearing up. Blood still coming out of his nose.

“No, Jim…I would never lie…”

“Shut up! I hate you! I fucking loved you and you…go away!”

“Jim…”

Jim knelt down angrily and picked up a rock and threw it at Spock.  It hit him just above his eyebrow.  Spock swore and placed a hand to his head as he tried to walk closer to Jim.

“Jim…I am sorry.  I thought…I have never lied to you. I love you. Please…”

“Go. Away.  Leave me the fuck alone!” Jim was cried out.  He turned, intending to run away but stopped and looked back to the other boy. “Just so you know, I did get adopted. His name is Chris and he and his partner are amazing.”  Jim then turned back and ran to camp.

Spock watched him go before running back to his house. When he got there he found his parents in one of the downstairs room and yelled out that he wanted to go.

“Spock! Oh my god! What happened?” Amanda gasped when her son entered the room.

“I want to go,” Spock said again.

“Spock…” Sarek stood up and tried to talk but Spock shook his head.

“Please, I want to go.  I have…I have college applications due. Please, can we just go,” Spock sobbed out.

Sarek nodded as his wife led Spock over to a nearby couch and sat him down.  He was shaking and almost hyperventilating.

“I will make the arrangements.  We will leave as soon as possible,” Sarek said, leaving them alone.

“Honey, what happened? Where’s Jim?” Amanda asked, taking some tissues from a nearby tissue box and cleaning her son’s nose and his injured head.

Spock shook his head, “I…I messed up.  Jim…I just...I just want to leave.”

“Okay, we’re going to leave.”

Spock looked at his mother, “I don’t want to come back here anymore.”

“We don’t have to.”

* * *

A few weeks later, Jim stood in a furniture store in San Francisco.  He looked around and ran his hand over what was going to be his new bed in his own room at his new house with Chris and Number One. He looked over and saw his new parents talking with the store clerk and smiled.

_They’re pretty cool,_ Jim thought as another store clerk walked up to him.

“That’s a pretty cool bracelet,” the man said, pointing to Jim’s wrist.  Jim looked to it, remembering that he had it.  It had been on his wrist for five years and he always forgot that he had it, he was so used to it.

A pang of sadness hit Jim as remembered Spock.

“Where’d you buy it?” the man asked.

“Um…I didn’t it,” Jim replied.  “I…I got it at camp like five years ago.  Someone made it.”

The man nodded at that, “Cool.  It’s pretty neat.  You should hang on to it.” The man then walked away and left Jim alone.

Jim held his wrist up and admired the bracelet.  It was pretty cool, but he was still upset at Spock. 

_Yeah, I’ll keep it.  Maybe I’ll give it to someone else one day._

* * *

 

**_Five Years Later_ **

_Halloween_

“I’m going to change majors,” Jim announced to his adopted father as they were handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. 

“To what?” Chris asked, “I thought you were enjoying the engineering classes.”

“I am, but I just…I want to do more.  There was a career fair in the student commons last week.  I talked to this nice lady who works for Children Services and…I want to be a social worker.”

“A social worker, huh?  I think you be really happy doing that, Jim.”

Jim smiled and nodded, “Thanks.  The social workers I had…sucked.  I mean, I found you and Number One and got adopted, but there are so many other kids that need help and need competent social workers helping them.  I want to help them. I’m going to be a social worker.”

* * *

 

Spock stopped crying and washed his face off in the bathroom sink.  He composed himself then left the bathroom and went over to the nurse’s desk. The nurse there gave him a sad smile.

“Can I hold my son now?” Spock asked her.

She nodded and stood up, leading him over to the nursery.

“He’s perfectly healthy, Mr. Grayson.  Seven pounds twelve and half ounces,” She told him, picking up a swaddled baby from a crib.  She put him into Spock’s arms and gave him another sad smile.

Spock sniffled as he cuddled his new son to him.  He smiled as he watched his son yawn and scrunch up his little face before looking up at him with big brown eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be mad at me! I promise the sequel will be happy! 
> 
> I will post the first chapter of that tomorrow :)   
> It will take place seven years after the end of this so Spock's son will be seven and another someone will be seven ^-^

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and reviews are always appreciated ^-^


End file.
